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PDFsam Basic vs PDFtk Server: catalog facts
PDFsam Basic	PDFtk Server
Freemium PDFsam Basic is free and open source under the AGPL 3.0. PDFsam Enhanced and Visual are…	Freemium Free for non-commercial use. A commercial licence is required otherwise.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Batch split, merge, rotate, extract and alternate-mix operations Completely offline; files never leave the machine	Terse, stable syntax that is easy to script Fills PDF forms from FDF data, which few command-line tools do
No text editing, form filling or OCR in the free edition JavaFX interface feels unlike a native app on every platform	Commercial use requires a paid licence Development has been slow, and packaging varies by platform
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Closed source
License: AGPL-3.0	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.